A Brit's View of the Obama Presidency

Nile Gardiner, from Britian, is the Washington based foreign policy commentator for The Telegraph.  His views of the Obama presidency are pretty stunning.  The American people are seeing for themselves what exactly happens when we elect a man with no experience and a world view that is opposed to vast majority of the American people.  Most Americans do believe in American exceptionalism.  People come here from all over the world to find their own piece of the American dream.  That dream is may take a different direction from others, but the basic premise remains the same.  People come here to be free to be who they are. 

1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people


In a previous post I noted how the Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime, extravagant, decaying and out of touch with ordinary Americans. The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Spain at a time of widespread economic hardship was symbolic of a White House that barely gives a second thought to public opinion on many issues, and frequently projects a distinctly elitist image. The “let them eat cake” approach didn’t play well over two centuries ago, and it won’t succeed today.

2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership

This deficit of trust in Obama’s leadership is central to his decline. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, “nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country”, and two thirds “say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working.” The poll showed that a staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president’s decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.

3. Obama fails to inspire

In contrast to the soaring rhetoric of his 2006 Convention speech in Chicago which succeeded in impressing millions of television viewers at the time, America is no longer inspired by Barack Obama’s flat, monotonous and often dull presidential speeches and statements delivered via teleprompter. From his extraordinarily uninspiring Afghanistan speech at West Point to his flat State of the Union address, President Obama has failed to touch the heart of America. Even Jimmy Carter was more moving.

4. The United States is drowning in debt

The Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Budget Outlook offers a frightening picture of the scale of America’s national debt. Under its alternative fiscal scenario, the CBO projects that US debt could rise to 87 percent of GDP by 2020, 109 percent by 2025, and 185 percent in 2035. While much of Europe, led by Britain and Germany, are aggressively cutting their deficits, the Obama administration is actively growing America’s debt, and has no plan in place to avert a looming Greek-style financial crisis.

5. Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat

The relentless emphasis on bailouts and stimulus spending has done little to spur economic growth or create jobs, but has greatly advanced the power of the federal government in America. This is not an approach that is proving popular with the American public, and even most European governments have long ditched this tax and spend approach to saving their own economies.

6. Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake

In an extraordinary act of political Harakiri, President Obama leant his full support to the hugely controversial, unpopular and divisive health care reform bill, with a monstrous price tag of $940 billion, whose repeal is now supported by 55 per cent of likely US voters. As I wrote at the time of its passing, the legislation is “a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers.”

7. Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive

While much of the spilled oil in the Gulf has now been thankfully cleared up, the political damage for the White House will be long-lasting. Instead of showing real leadership on the matter by acing decisively and drawing upon offers of international support, the Obama administration settled on a more convenient strategy of relentlessly bashing an Anglo-American company while largely sitting on its hands. Significantly, a poll of Louisiana voters gave George W. Bush higher marks for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with 62 percent disapproving of Obama’s performance on the Gulf oil spill.

8. US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration

It is hard to think of a single foreign policy success for the Obama administration, but there have been plenty of missteps which have weakened American global power as well as the standing of the United States. The surrender to Moscow on Third Site missile defence, the failure to aggressively stand up to Iran’s nuclear programme, the decision to side with ousted Marxists in Honduras, the slap in the face for Great Britain over the Falklands, have all contributed to the image of a US administration completely out of its depth in international affairs. The Obama administration’s high risk strategy of appeasing America’s enemies while kicking traditional US allies has only succeeded in weakening the United States while strengthening her adversaries.

9. President Obama is muddled and confused on national security

From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the War on Terror, President Obama’s leadership has often been muddled and confused. On Afghanistan he rightly sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the battlefield. At the same time however he bizarrely announced a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces beginning in July 2011, handing the initiative to the Taliban. On Iraq he has announced an end to combat operations and the withdrawal of all but 50,000 troops despite a recent upsurge in terrorist violence and political instability, and without the Iraqi military and police ready to take over. In addition he has ditched the concept of a War on Terror, replacing it with an Overseas Contingency Operation, hardly the right message to send in the midst of a long-war against Al-Qaeda.

10. Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness

Barack Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, and has made apologising for his country into an art form. In a speech to the United Nations last September he stated that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.” It is difficult to see how a US president who holds these views and does not even accept America’s greatness in history can actually lead the world’s only superpower with force and conviction.

There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.

This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom.

Listen to this speech about the American Dream and the important role it plays in the life of Americans, especially part 6, that is why people come from all over the world to come here: 

Colin Powell's New Title - Influential Liberal

The Telegraph out of the UK is doing a list of the top 100 most influential American liberals and conservatives.  Here is number #78 on the liberal list.

78. Colin Powell (23)



Although officially a Republican, Powell secretly met then Senator Barack Obama in 2006 and urged him to run for President. Then, he endorsed the Democratic candidate in the home stretch of the 2008 election at the most damaging possible time for his old friend Senator John McCain.

A former National Security Adviser under Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State under George W. Bush, Powell was central to making the case for the Iraq war at the United Nations, an act for which he now appears determined to atone. He has denied wanting a seat in Obama’s cabinet but as the former Gulf War military commander he would be a natural choice for Pentagon chief when Bob Gates eventually steps down. Alternatively, Powell would probably jump at being Secretary for Education – the subject closest to his heart since George W. Bush dispensed with his services as Secretary of State after the 2004 election.

Having passed up the opportunity to bid to become the first black President when he pondered running against Bill Clinton in 1996, Powell appears heavily invested in doing everything he can to help the man who subsequently achieved that feat.

Comments From The Peanut Gallery

There is an interesting article in The Telegraph about President Obama's ecomonic policies, and how he is making the same mistakes made after the great depression. But what is much more interesting are the comments:

Here are a few:

Churchill said that socialism was the equal distribution of misery. The most miserable and destitute country in the western hemisphere is Haiti, which has been solidly capitalist for nearly two hundred years.Cuba, by comparison, is a paradise. Has this person been to Cuba? I don't think people would be sailing ninty miles in the ocean risking thier lives to get to the US if it were such a paradise, although I would agree that it is better than Haiti. Haiti is a capitalist country? They have not had a stable government in decades, you can't have capitalism without stability.

While it is true that Obama's Marxist policies will destroy the economy, it is also true that this is the whole object of the exercise. Obama promoted "share the wealth" and "equality of outcome" during the campaign for the presidency; now he is implementing those Marxist policies, and getting Marxist results (economic disaster, like the Soviets). The fact that bank, auto, and other shareholders have lost trillions of dollars is fine with the Marxists since these were mostly white "capitalists" who had their pensions and retirement funds substantially destroyed. The beneficiaries of the redistribution of wealth are primarily the Marxist themselves, followed by their political constituencies: ethnic, gender, demographic, etc. From the Marxists' point of view, everything is going quite well, thank you, including the reduction of the USA to third world status. Not a big fan of the US I guess.

No mistakes here ! Even Helen Keller can see that this disaster is manufactured by racist marxists. Obama and his cohorts are achieving exactly what they set out to do. Seen this stuff before in Germany - good luck America, you're gone need it ! I guess American conservatives aren't the only ones who think this.

The author and economists are wrong in assuming that the president does not know what he is doing. He knows exactly what he is doing and he thinks he can get away with it. Again, it isn't just us conservatives.

The US has been on this vector for decades. It'd be surprising if ignorant primates (all of 'em) could discover that freedom has been in short supply and their ever-increasing statism has [finally] killed the west. Sadly, this is too true

Socialism is taking over most western countries. And will continue to until the public realizes how bad it is. Unfortunately for all, the US is on the same road. It is going to get ugly, but hay morons don't deserve freedom.